This invention relates to seats for retaining and supporting a child during feeding.
As children grow and develop over the first few years of their lives, their needs change. It is desirable to have a single feeding seat that can be adapted to meet their changing size and needs.
Children normally begin accepting solid food from a spoon between about four and six months of age. However, the stomach, back and neck muscles of such infants are not yet sufficiently developed and coordinated that the child can remain comfortably erect in an upright chair, even when strapped in with a waist belt. Such young children are therefore commonly fed in a reclined position, with their heads supported. As the child matures, the preferred angle of recline may change.
Older children, such as toddlers of age one to three years, are able to sit erect and feed themselves more or less by hand. Such children may be comfortably seated in high chairs or "booster" chairs, with or without attachable trays to hold food and help prevent spills. The preferred elevation of the child, with respect to the tray or an adjacent table, is apt to change as the child grows. An example of an adjustable high chair designed to be adjusted is disclosed in co-pending patent application Ser. No. 08/938,506, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth.